In an episode airing in March 2025, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” called for an end to the use of “excited delirium” as a cause of deaths in police custody. The segment cites PHR’s landmark 2022 report “Excited Delirium and Deaths in Police Custody,” which shows how the term is not a valid, independent […]
In an episode airing in March 2025, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” shined a light on U.S. immigration detention and how it jeopardizes the health, rights, and lives of people who are detained. The harrowing segment highlights two studies published in 2024 by PHR and partners: PHR continues to call for safe, humane, and […]
In armed conflicts around the world, sexual violence is perpetrated at an alarming rate – including against children. Multiple challenges limit evidence collection, preventing accountability for sexual violence. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Physicians for Human Rights and our partners are supporting child survivors of sexual violence through the creation of child-friendly spaces. […]
In the two years since the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health decision, 14 states have banned abortion in almost all circumstances. As a result, growing numbers of clinicians are facing possible criminal and civil penalties for the provision of basic health care, creating real threats to public health and human rights.
Map of Attacks on Medical Personnel and Facilities in Syria When hospitals or health clinics are destroyed, the loss is far greater than the bricks and mortar of the buildings. Safe and protected spaces to seek routine and urgent medical attention are also lost. When medical workers are killed, the human toll is not just […]
March 5, 2024
Attacks on Health Care, Persecution of Health Workers
After 10 years of war and untold suffering in Syria, the landscape for human rights, justice, and accountability looks bleak. Explore an interactive timeline of the conflict.
March 5, 2024
Attacks on Health Care, Mass Atrocities, Persecution of Health Workers, Torture
Abortion is health care, and abortion rights are human rights that must be guaranteed without discrimination. In the United States, the Supreme Court’s rollback of the right to abortion in 2022 has led to widespread violations of human rights. These restrictive new laws put clinicians in an impossible situation, also known as “dual loyalty”, forcing […]
Using a participatory methodology called Photovoice, a group of survivors of sexual violence in Nairobi set out to document their journey to seek out and access mental health care.
The Russian Federation’s aggression-leading to both targeted and indiscriminate attacks on Ukraine’s health care facilities, amongst other civilian infrastructure-constitutes a gross violation of international law. This map documents these assaults which have a devastating impact on Ukraine’s health care system. This map is a joint undertaking among eyeWitness to Atrocities (eyeWitness), Insecurity Insight, Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR), Physicians for […]
To mark Human Rights Day, PHR hosted a conversation about how health professionals can use their skills and platforms to document and call attention to human rights violations.
December 7, 2022
Asylum, Attacks on Health Care, COVID-19, Persecution of Health Workers
